This is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 10/769,935, filed on Feb. 2, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,033,906, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
A variety of components, e.g. electronic components and mechanical components, may include a coating of material for protecting the component from its external environment. For example, an electronic component may be applied with a plastic molding material during manufacture that provides moisture protection for the electronic component as well as provide electrical isolation among subcomponents of the electronic component.
A protective coating material on an electronic component may possess dielectric properties that may adversely affect the operation of the electronic component. For example, a plastic molding material may have a relatively high dielectric constant. A material with a relatively high dielectric constant may cause the formation of relatively high parasitic capacitances among the subcomponents of an electronic component. Unfortunately, high levels of parasitic capacitances among the subcomponents of an electronic component may adversely affect the operation of the electronic component. For example, parasitic capacitances may adversely affect the frequency response of an electronic component.
One prior technique for minimizing the undesirable parasitic capacitances in an electronic component caused by a protective coating is to employ a coating material having a relatively low dielectric constant. For example, composite materials or porous plastic materials having a relatively low dielectric constant may be employed to protect an electronic component. Unfortunately, composite materials and porous plastic materials may increase the costs of manufacturing an electronic component by imposing additional steps on the manufacturing process.